"Mr. Fisher, please don’t misunderstand. I used the Soul Lord’s knowledge not in a bid to profane Mr. Helldor’s life; I don’t want you to therefore feel alienated or resistant toward the Creation Society or the Cardinal of Destiny. In fact, when I was replacing his body, I followed his wishes..."
"The dying Mr. Helldor requested that his departed soul be infused into a new body to serve as fuel. He wanted to continue engraving magic after his reincarnation and to serve Miss Valentina Turand, rather than live on as a useless, mechanical old man."
"Of course, the Turand family was fully aware of this. They and Mr. Helldor didn’t tell Miss Valentina Turand..."
Mr. Fisher suddenly turned his head toward the cardinal in the snow, opened his mouth, intending to say something more to the cardinal, but his body had already dimmed completely, turning into a pile of lifeless scrap metal, dead in the cold Northern Realm snow.
At this time, inside the Moon Rabbit Clan Ancestral Hall, Sister Ilois stood under the courtyard she had visited countless times as a child. The huge square in front of her, which used to be used for the Moon Rabbit species’ singing and dancing, was now covered with snow and had quieted down, so she could only look up through the sky above the courtyard, watching as the moonlight slowly devoured the last of the lingering weak sun.
"Sister Ilois, do you feel anything amiss now? It is almost night."
The sudden voice behind startled Sister Ilois, and she hurriedly turned back to see that it was Balzac and Philis approaching, with Valentina sitting in a wheelchair, pushed by Helldor into the temple.
The temple was entirely made of stone, its walls etched with all sorts of exquisite murals that narrated the ancient, glorious history of the Moon Rabbit species and how their ancestors had followed the great Phoenix to defeat their enemies and claim glory.
Sister Ilois shook her head, pursed her lips, and pulled her thick garment tightly as she said to Balzac,
"No... nothing. It’s just as usual. I don’t feel anything amiss. But it might be because the moon hasn’t fully risen yet. Only after seeing the moonlight will my senses fully sharpen, and only then will I see many things that are usually invisible."
"Mhm, you’ve already roughly guessed a few places, right? But the problem is, what if the Moon Rabbit seal isn’t on the first floor and you get attacked? Someone needs to ensure your safety, and if anything happens, you must immediately run out of the temple and enter the Sealing Cage we set up outside, understand?"
Balzac glanced around the environment somewhat anxiously. He had just made Sister Ilois memorize all the potential spots where the seal could be hidden, even the route back to the Sealing Cage. They couldn’t afford to lose the last of the Moon Rabbit direct lineage—if Sister Ilois were harmed, no one else could see that Moon Rabbit seal.
Sister Ilois nodded in agreement, but Balzac still seemed somewhat uneasy. Looking at the gradually rising hazy moonlight in the sky, he glanced restlessly behind him,
"That Fisher from Nali, he’s got magic with him, so he should be sensitive to these intangible things. He should be the one protecting Ilois... Wait, where is he? How come he hasn’t come yet? Heh, just started the mission with us and he’s already hiding..."
Helldor and Fisher were both mages. Balzac knew Helldor was one of Valentina’s people and dared not command him, so he could only verbally bully Fisher, the new guy. He had questions, Fisher; he didn’t even know Attack.
Valentina didn’t speak; instead, Helldor, who was beside her, exhaled a puff of steam, saying quite calmly,
"Sss... Mages can’t see those strange things just like the Moon Rabbit species can’t. I’ve set up the magic completely this afternoon, everything outside is arranged well, and nothing extra will come in... He just went outside to engrave a few carry-on spells, he’ll be back soon... Drip drip..."
Just as Helldor finished speaking, his body suddenly expelled a puff of steam and began to uncontrollably emit a faint blue light, making Valentina turn back to look at him immediately, frowning,
"Helldor, your body..."
But the next second, Helldor gently waved his hand at Valentina, straightened his body, and smilingly said to her,
"Sss... It’s okay, just engraved a bit too much magic this afternoon. Maybe Fisher was right; I shouldn’t have engraved magic recently."
Valentina seemed hesitant, just as she was softly rubbing her ring, pondering how to ask Helldor to go back to the camp outside for rest. At that moment, Sister Ilois’ ears atop her head suddenly stood upright, attracting the attention of everyone present.
Strikingly visible, behind Sister Ilois, a pure, bright moonlight had finally driven out the sun that had dominated the entire morning, visibly falling through the thick clouds onto the cold Northern Realm, leaving her shoulders tinged with silver.
Her elongated ears shook slightly, and her dark eyes also gradually deepened in color, turning to a brilliant pink hue.
"Is this... the ability to see through secrets, a trait of the Moon Rabbit direct lineage bloodline?"
Even Balzac, who had studied the history of the Northern Realm for many years, couldn’t help but mutter to himself at the sight before him, as if one of the Six Clans that had gloriously followed the Phoenix centuries ago was right before his eyes.
But Sister Ilois clearly did not share the same sentiments with her own race’s history. For some reason, at this moment, her body draped in a thick robe began to tremble slightly. The daytime-quiet temple obviously presented a different scene to her eyes.
Indeed, the Moon Rabbit species had hidden many treasures here, but that wasn’t her focus now.
Sister Ilois’ gaze turned to the temple’s exterior, enveloped in heavy Protection Magic, to the depths of the distant Sema Snow Mountain, where a bone-chilling cold wind was howling torwards her, targeting her fragile figure, the Moon Rabbit direct lineage orphan.
"There’s something... coming..."
Sister Ilois gasped, addressing the people in front of her.